The initial signs are that Greece is indeed enjoying an Odyssey surge.
Data from easyJet holidays in early August revealed a spike, with overall bookings to the Greek mainland and island breaks rising 18 percent week-on-week. Unforgettable Greece, a tour operator, told Travel Weekly that bookings to Greece increased 76 percent year-on-year. The company launched 22 new thematic itineraries linking Athens, Corfu and Ithaca.
The film has also sparked renewed interest in Homer’s classics, with a 70 percent increase in U.K. sales and a 76 percent rise in the U.S. since the start of the year, according to data from Circana BookScan. According to Google Trends data, analyzed by language-learning platform Preply, online searches for “learn Greek” surged by as much as 5,000 percent in the fortnight following the film’s release.
Still, Angelos Chaniotis, professor in the school of historical studies at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, noted that Greece needed to look beyond the “quick wins” from a blockbuster movie to develop a more sustained strategy.
“Of course, there are instances where a film has led to the discovery of Greece, as happened with ‘Boy on a Dolphin’ and ‘Hydra’ in 1957, but often the impact of films is short-lived,” he said.
“To ensure sustained interest in Greek culture, Greek archaeology and classical studies, Greece needs a long-term strategy linked, for example, with the internationalization of relevant study programs, the strengthening of the archaeological service, and a specific policy to improve the presentation of archaeological sites and museums.”